Art can take on many forms. I have covered many physical and tangible artforms through my blogs, but for this post I am covering an art form that is more of a practice: the art of travel.
My desire to travel and see the world spawned from my parents. When they were younger, my parents were constantly traveling all over creation. Both my parents loved traveling, but my dad was dedicated. When I was young, my dad would tell me stories of how his trips around the globe changed the course of his life and the way he views the world. I would hear about trips to Spain, Morocco, Kenya, China, New Zealand, and all over America. Every story I would hear would take me on an adventure when envisioning the places that they went to together.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am a huge fan of movies. As I grew older, I would find my own passage to seeing the world through movies. I loved adventure movies like the Indiana Jones series and The Secrete Life of Walter Mitty. I would get to a taste of what it was like outside of East Norriton, Pennsylvania. This was part of what got me hooked to movies, the ability to see different parts of the world like my parents would describe.
Although these movies were never the real deal, and the stories would only lead on my aspirations to travel. It wasn’t till my junior year in high school that I got my first experience for what travel. My school was offering a service trip to St. Mary’s Mission in Tohatchi, New Mexico. New Mexico was like a world away from anything I had ever seen, and it was located on the Navajo Reservation, so it was in a culture I had never experienced. The trip was probably the most gripping experience I have ever lived through.
New Mexico was like another planet to me. Everything was so different than anything I have experienced in the past. The landscapes were barren but beautiful. I was in a desert landscape with vibrant reds and oranges that lit up huge rock formations with scattered and seldom vegetation. The common standard of living was much different than what I had experienced in my life. This was probably the first time that I as exposed to poverty firsthand. The culture was so striking, as I had always been surrounded by my own culture throughout my life. Seeing the different mannerisms, ideologies, languages, and religions of the locals extremely enthralling to me. And the art that came out of Navajo culture, SO COOL. Pottery, tapestry, and jewelry are very prevalent traditional art forms in Navajo culture. The style of Navajo art is SO beautiful and so different from the Euro-centric styles of these art forms.
This experience opened my eyes and released me from the bubble I had been living in my whole life. I saw landscapes I never dreamed of, cultures I never learned of, and art I never conceived of. It was a great learning experience and invigorating adventure. I finally experienced the thrills of travel that my parents always exclaimed about.
This is what art is all about, evoking these feelings and excitement. Although it may not be a tangible form of art, it is still extremely immersive and persuasive. Travel is a way to learn about the world around you and take in the cultures it withholds. Seeing landscapes can be an escape and a means for self-transcendence. Visiting cities can give you a taste for local culture (people, food, leisure) and architecture (infrastructure, artistic, landscaping). Meeting new people can give you insight to local mannerisms, languages, and living conditions. There is so much to observe and learn through travel. Likewise, this is an art form that helps you appreciate and understand even more artforms. So much of art stems off of location, learning the locations of the world will give you insight on why certain art pieces are the way they are.
Travel is SO GOOD! Try it, try it, try it, try it. Now that you are in college, it is the perfect time to start traveling. There are so many opportunities presented in college for travel and so many resources that can help you achieve this travel goal. Explore the world, it’ll change your life.
I have never thought of travel as an art form but this post really showcased all the ways in which it is. I also connected to your anecdote about experiencing travel through movies, because I have not travelled much outside of the US and movies help me to do so in some ways.
Describing traveling as an art from is really interesting to me. I think that it is important to look at it this way sometimes and recognize the importance of other culture. I felt like Arizona was a different world when I was there so I understand what you mean by it being a new world in New Mexico. There are so many unique places in the U.S.!
I also love to travel (as you probably already know from my blog lol) but I’ve never thought of it as an art form. I completely understand your reasoning though, traveling can evoke similar emotions to experiencing any other form of art. Visiting New Mexico sounds really cool, it’s always been a place I’ve wanted to visit.